Many wedding businesses have a great season and still wonder where the money went. The bank balance mixes advances for next year, GST you owe, and bills you have not paid yet. The only way to know which weddings make money is to put the costs next to each booking.
Three kinds of cost
- Direct costs of the event: crew and freelancers, materials, flowers, rentals, groceries, album printing, travel and stay.
- Supplier bills: the decorator, caterer or sound vendor you subcontract. Keep who you paid and when.
- Running costs: rent, salaries, software, equipment EMIs, marketing. They are not tied to one event but they come out of your profit.
A simple worked example
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Price for the wedding (without GST) | ₹1,93,000 |
| Crew and freelancers (4 functions) | ₹52,000 |
| Album printing | ₹14,000 |
| Travel and stay | ₹11,500 |
| Drone rental | ₹8,000 |
| Profit on the event | ₹1,07,500 (56% margin) |
Running costs come out of this too. If they are ₹60,000 a month and you shoot six weddings that month, each wedding carries about ₹10,000 of them.
An example to show the method, not a market rate.
What the numbers tell you
- Which packages earn: a cheaper package that needs four people may earn less than it looks.
- Which suppliers cost most: see what you spend with each one every month.
- What to charge next season: price from real costs, using this pricing method.
Doing it in Wedza CRM
Wedza CRM keeps the money on both sides of each order. The client’s payments come from the order’s payment plan; you add costs (staff, material, travel, rent, supplier bills) to the order, or to a group of orders for bigger projects. Wedza CRM shows each event’s net profit and margin, counts running costs in your total profit, and keeps every supplier with what you have paid them.
For photographers, crew pay and payslips sit in the same place: managing functions and crews. Every CRM feature is in one plan, ₹199 for 30 days.
More about Wedza CRM: this guide covers one part. For everything Wedza CRM does, with real screens, prices and add-ons, see Wedza CRM features: everything it does.
Questions
How do I calculate profit on a wedding booking?
Take what the client pays you (without GST), subtract every cost of that event (crew, materials, rentals, travel, food, printing, supplier bills) and a share of your running costs. What is left is your profit; divide it by the price for your margin.
Which expenses should I track per event?
Crew and freelancer pay, materials and rentals, supplier bills, travel and stay, food for the team, printing (albums, invitations) and any commission you paid a planner. Track office rent, salaries, software and loan EMIs as running costs.
Should GST be counted as income?
No. GST you collect is owed to the government, so count income without GST when you work out profit.
Does Wedza CRM track expenses?
Yes. Add costs to any order (or a group of orders), keep suppliers and what you pay them, add running costs, and Wedza CRM shows each event’s net profit and margin and your total profit.